Flux

April and October are equally my favourite months. Spring and Autumn, life and death, rise and fall. Intensity of the tumultuous spaces between Equinoxes and Solstices. The seasons in which you may require an umbrella, a parka, sunglasses and a tshirt in the same day. I never really thought so deeply about why that is before. I always thought because I'm born in April, and October is it's calendrical opposite. Is that a word? It is now..

I'm addicted to change. Hooked on the tides.. the moon has me wrapped around her finger. I've been that way my whole life. Hence the vagabond lifestyle. I spent almost a decade rotating my location depending on the seasons. Working a job that I could take leave from for months at a time to do something different.

I never thought I'd pull off the whole setting down "roots" thing. But having a foundation has turned out to be a little different than I initially percieved it to be- perhaps due to my transient nature.

It's not like one big taproot that's anchoring me firmly in place, it's more like widespread reaching root systems that can survive if sections of them are severed. Like tubers, or multiplier bulbs. I'm finding that I feel much more secure this way, yet if ever I can't stay in one place, there's always plan b. Or c.. but they're all connected to the tree that is me.

This moon did not disappoint. It was every bit of flux that I come to expect from this time of year. The bit of mystery and uncertainty and change that makes the experience exciting and challenging and keeps me on my toes.

Last October was epic on the scale of change in my personal and professional life, as well as spiritual. April seems to be following up with the intensifying ripples of the changes set in motion. It's almost too much to drink in..

That's all I have to say for now. I probably could be more vague, but it's the point that matters.. 

3 years later...

Ah man I'm bad at this. It's been an eventful summer that's for sure. The garden exploded, and we've literally been feeding the town with it. We use our produce in barter and trade, and the freezer chest is full. Loads of it are just given away. It's a beautiful garden, my best one yet. It's a fair bit of work to maintain, but it's more than worth it.

It's been a long, hot season. It's rained sparsely twice in the past 3 months, and this is the worst season for wildfires yet. We had a few days of relief from the smoke, but as I drove home today I could see a thick haze on the horizon. We're enveloped once again.

We find relief from the heat out on the water. My partner reclaimed a boat he had stashed in a barn. It took us a bit to get it up and running again, but it's been well used since. We are surrounded by lakes and waterways and blessed with beautiful places to fish. Our season started out well, we caught 7 rainbow trout in a few hours on our first lake run. Only half the luck since, and now we're waiting for the salmon. And the rain.

Work has been ...interesting. I have learned a lot in the 8 months I've been working with metal. I am learning from the best. Our team is highly sought after in the valley. Contract work can be unpredictable at times though when it comes to lining up jobs (and getting paid for them). We've had a couple nerve racking lulls, but then a week later we're turning down work because we're booked solid. It's kind of funny that we live in a tiny little farm house, and work in 4-8,000 square foot homes worth millions. And some with unbelievable views. BC stands for bring cash, and man do they ever.

I wish they'd share the wealth... though our schedule is full, our budget is still hella tight. We just barely made rent on time for the first of the month, and with so many bills coming up [and a couple weeks before we can expect any more pay] everything is on the line. My wheels, my phone, and ultimately our home. If only we could pay rent with vegetables...


It makes me think about the perception of wealth. If produce was currency, I'd be rich. Therefore, I suppose I am. It's reassuring to know that if the economy went for a dump, at least we can produce our own food, and lots of it. We need to get a bigger fire safe for our seed collection.

Besides going to work and our occasional trips to town, we live a very simple, localized lifestyle. It's very old timey and laid-back. As I was saying about the barter and trade, it's a part of life out here for 'people of the valley'. Most of our food came from somewhere in this community, trading zucchini and squash for farm fresh eggs, and our tomatoes and seeds for the sweetest corn on the cob I've ever tasted. It's such a contrast from city life, out here in the country.

Which by the way, was always a dream of mine. It's been 3 years now since I landed here. 3 years ago I stepped off that greyhound bus. I had no real plan.. If you would have asked me right then and there where I'd have seen myself three years later, I wouldn't know what to tell you. I could have ended up anywhere, or continuously traveled.. I could have gone back east, back to the land from which I came. but I'm still here.. I somehow passed the test of time that comes with east-coast peeps moving west. many go back in the first year and a half. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it more than once. 


 It wasn't the easiest choice to make, nor the easiest ride to take when i decided to stay. I've faced almost as much adversity the past three years as I had in the 29 years before that, but also experienced some of the most beautiful, priceless moments of my life. I would never take it back for anything. the places that I've been, the people that I've met.. it's just incredible. Even if I had to lose everything once or twice to get there. Even if I had to miss everyone back home so much to make these new connections, I would never wish it hadn't happened. 

If someone would have approached me that day I stepped off the bus and told me where I'd be in a few years and what I'd be doing, my response would probably be something along the lines of 'I wish...' and that's the craziest part of all. I wouldn't have believed it. Couldn't have even dreamt it... at the same time now that I'm here, I couldn't have imagined it any other way. Although I have these memories of my mother speculating how my life might end up if I moved out west, and it's almost creepy how spot on she was. I didn't really believe her either. But if I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure I did say 'I wish'. If I could only tell her, and hear her say 'I told you so...'. But I do. 

I do.

The valley under ice.

Just days after the valley was slammed with an epic snowstorm, the temperature rose as the next system rolled in. Snow turned to rain, but the windchill froze everything on contact. We woke up blanketed in a sheet of ice. We made an attempt to get out of the driveway, only making it to the next property over before having to turn around. With all the ice, snow and slush on the road, gaining traction was impossible.

Shortly after noon, as we'd suspected might happen, the power went out. Our area was one of two hundred other outages across BC leaving tens of thousands of people in the dark. Thankfully I'd just finished my baking for the day, so I had some fresh made snacks to load up in my pack.

With not much else to do, I decided to go for a walk. The rain had subsided for long enough that I could bring my camera out and capture some of the epic scenes left behind by the storm. And meet some of our neighbours in the process.

A couple houses down, one of our neighbours with the farm tractor (the one that dug us out before) was clearing the driveway for the old man at the wood shop. I had a chance to say hello. The old fella struck up a conversation and noticed my camera, and invited me onto his property to get some shots.

He commented on the sheet of ice that coated the barn reflecting the daylight, and insisted I take a shot. He has dozens of bird houses that were strung with icicles all over the yard. Old machinery equipment and a canoe hanging outside his shop looked as though they had been frozen for decades.

As he pulled the door to the wood shop open I felt a pulse of warm air hit me. He had the wood burning stove pumping and it felt nice to be warm. He showed me around, and he had a few customer orders sitting up on tables ready to be stained. There's a local native woman that paints beautiful scenery, wildlife and folk art on panels of wood which he then inlays in his hand made hope chests. Their work is sold to locals in the valley.

After telling me a few stories and showing me every piece of work in the shop and all the types of cedar he uses, he showed me out of the shop. He said if I ever had nothing to do again, I was welcome back any time. I told him I'd be back some day with prints for him.

As I carried on down the road I was joined by an old black lab that lived on the horse farm. She led me down the gravel path looking back every so often as if to make sure I was safe. I stopped a few times to hear the trees splitting under the weight of the ice, sounding off like thunder as the branches and tree tops crashed to the ground. Ice bombs began to fall off the wires above. I'd have to tread carefully for the next mile where several giant trees lined the road along the river.

I made it to the middle of a long stretch of trees when I suddenly heard the cracking right above me. I tucked my camera into my jacket quickly and ran for it. Smash! I looked back to see a huge branch shattered to bits on the road right where I was standing. I thought to myself, now I've done a lot of crazy things to get a good shot, but this might just be up there amongst the most dangerous. My heart was pounding, and I kept on going.

Finally I crossed the bridge over the creek where the old man with the scrap yard was shoveling his driveway. I wasn't expecting him to say hello when I waved, but much to my surprise, we ended up chatting for an hour. I've passed him a few times driving by and I always wave, and he never seems very eager to interact, so I was pretty stoked about our conversation.

After our long talk and the show around the yard of his massive inventory of trucks and parts, I was on my way again. I'd just made it to the end of my road when the plow turned down. I jumped out of the way with an enthusiastic wave, we'd finally be dug out of the mess! Moments after I'd sent a text home warning of the incoming plow, I got one back saying the power had been restored. I took a few more shots and turned back.

Just in time too, when I was about a hundred meters from the house the wind picked up again knocking down all the ice. More rain blew in, and in less than an hour there was no evidence that our world had been coated in ice. I was thankful that I'd made it out for my walk when I did, had I not gone I'd have missed out on a photo opportunity of a lifetime. We don't often get weather like this here, and the conversations I had along the way made it an amazing journey.

Today the sun is out, and the air smells like spring is on the way. I'm so thankful that our roads will be safe again and all the snow is melting, as beautiful as it was. The adventure continues...

Lost and found

Yeah, I'm aware it's just a shirt. And yes, perhaps I put too much value in some of my material possessions, considering I'm not a very materialistic individual. A lot of what I own would be considered worthless junk to most, but to me it's all about the memories.

But that shirt though.. not only was it the memories, it was also just the most perfect shirt for outdoor adventure on cold days, for working outside in the fall and winter, and for days I want to laze around in my track pants and be comfortable. It's a lightweight, warm and comfy long sleeve black thermal shirt that just happens to fit me perfectly. Over tees, under hoodies, it's the perfect intermediate layer. It doesn't hold dirt or smells, so I can get away with wearing it most of the week without washing.

I stole it off a friend by accident when I was visiting Nova Scotia. I was couch surfing and had all my gear scattered about, and being a plain black shirt, it blended right in with the rest of my wardrobe. After denying for a couple weeks that I had unknowingly taken it, I found it in my laundry when I finally unpacked. Not knowing when I'd see my friend again or the east coast, it became a part of my daily ensemble. Sorry man, I took your shirt after all.

Every fishing trip, road trip, camping trip and hike, I've had that shirt with me ever since. I'd worn it on our Christmas morning fishing trip, and when I went to put it on for work the next day, I couldn't find it. I searched everywhere. Over the next few days I'd pretty well ripped apart the house and the van in search of this shirt. More than a week later I had given up, and my fella's aunt overheard us discussing my frustration about losing things. She asked what I lost and as I described the shirt she says uhhh oh...

Oh no. I had a feeling that was coming. I thought she was gonna say she'd donated it to the goodwill.. I've had that happen with my things before. Nope, it wasn't accidently donated. It ended up in a small heap of sweaters and jackets that family members had left at the house over the holiday weekend. Auntie had assumed it belonged to one of her daughters, and passed it off when she returned a jacket.

She said she'd go pick it up for me. She phoned to ask if it was there, but it just happened to be laundry day. Her daughter drops off her laundry at her boyfriend's mother's house as they don't have machines, so I'd have to wait until their laundry returns to find out of it's even there. After a couple weeks I had to let it go. The shirt was gone.

I'd gone to a few different thrift stores in search of something similar, but I could never find anything that fit quite the same. Too big or too small, or the sleeves are too tight.. where did this shirt even come from in the first place? I have no idea.

I was packing my clothes in preparation for the upcoming move, and auntie comes home with my shirt in hand. Yup, that's the one! I couldn't believe it. I swear I had dreams about searching for this shirt. Now that I have it back, I feel complete. My work shirt! Yes! Thank you universe! Haha. So I wrote this entire blog post about a silly shirt, that's right. Now that I'm moving out to the boons, I finally have it back. I had to resist the urge to jump for joy about it. Out in the cold valley, it'll keep me safe and warm. I'm happy to have it back. That is all.


x

a walk in the dark.

it's been an interesting week so far.. a much welcomed end to a long winter season. earlier this week, i'd lost my cell phone for a couple hours. yeah, i know.. tragedy huh? haha.. but really, i hadn't realized that i'd 'lost' it until that morning my alarm didn't wake me. i searched the house high and low, tried messaging myself from my computer, and wondered what in the hell i was going to do in the event that i'd never found it. how will anyone get ahold of me? how will Matt and i communicate? how the hell will i know what time it is?! i'd have to buy a watch on my break. as soon as i had finally accepted the fact that my phone was nowhere to be found and that i would indeed have to go the day without it, i found it in my coat pocket. how it'd gotten there i wasn't sure as i didn't leave the house the night before.

anyway, it was a strange array of emotions i had gone through for the loss of this pocket sized technical device. i had realized truly all that it is to me now that i no longer had it.. i rely on it even to do my job more efficiently as everything i do is timed, and i somehow manage to kill watches [or really anything i try to wear around my wrists at work]. i have alarms for everything, all my numbers are saved, and i monitor my activities daily with an app that connects my fitbit to my phone via bluetooth. my oh my how 'connected' i have become. hell i didn't even mention social media, which is now my main means of communication with dozens of people, some of which i talk to on an almost daily basis through this media alone.

 and then there was today. around 4:30 in the morning [roughly five minutes after my first alarm goes off] the sound of the power going out was what got me out of bed. after a few minutes passed and the candles were lit, it became apparent that it wouldn't be coming back on any time soon. i was instantly annoyed that i couldn't press any juice for the day, or make my breakfast smoothie. i had even become spoiled by technology to get some nutrients into me so i can go about my day. my time was up, and i had to leave.. only to realize it wasn't just our house.. or our street... the power was out all the to work and in the mall itself.

there was no lights but the moon out in the suburbs. and it felt creepy.. there's something i can't explain about the feeling of being in the city in the pitch black. the forest, it feels right in the dark of night but in the concrete jungle.. it was mildly unsettling at first. once my eyes had adjusted, the walk was more fun. i felt like a ninja, sneaking through the town unseen in the hours before daylight. as far as i could tell, there was certainly no weather related reasons for a power outage, and it was quite widespread to be a simple downed line. i can never help but wonder what's happening.. sometimes i even think it's planned just to get the masses used to long bouts of time without power.

as i came up out of the suburbs where the main street meets the highway i could see a glare off the damp asphalt ahead. the traffic lights were still on. it was so eerie.. no street lights, no houses lit, just darkness.. and then as if completely missed by the outage stands this one traffic signal on it's green-yellow-red rotation without skipping a beat. then i start to think, as i always do in power outages, if this might be 'it'. and what i'd be doing with the rest of my day/week/life if it never ever came back on. what all of us would be doing...

yeah.

did i mention, it's the first day of spring?! HAPPY EQUINOX!!!! #nomoresnow ;)

creative juices

turns out i've actually been having some fun with this juicing thing. i mean my goal is to improve my overall health, but it's had some other side effects. i feel like my mind is more clear than usual since i've been focusing more on what goes into my body.. a super concentration of goodness and nutrients straight into me. i'm in love with my juicer...

..and suddenly feeling a lot more creative. i've been in a slump for a long, long time.. having a really hard time expressing myself with words, or with colours.. i've been looking at this small pile of blank canvasses for months and was finally inspired today to blow off the dust and make use of them. we've been slowly turning our little basement apartment into our own little hideaway, some paint here and there, some art and a random collection of decor. the kitchen is where i spend the majority of my time when i'm home, so i spent a little extra time making it look extra fresh. red green and gold is the theme of the room, so i decided to carry the theme to the blank canvasses.

i sketched loosely onto each blank slate a rough drawing of an abstract-ish mushroom, trying hard not to think too much about it, just let the graphite do it's thing. i ended up with a whimsical trio of oblong mushrooms that will be a series i will use to hide a hole in the wall beside the cellar door. we've decided since the apartment has been so long in disrepair that we would do repairs of our own to a point, and use our creativity to somply dress it up to make it feel more like home.

the weather finally eased up a little today, instead of minus a million below zero it's now above freezing and raining on top of the snow. yum.. well on the plus side i finally had the nerve to make a couple trips to the grocer to stock up on produce for the rest of the weekend. selection usually isn't so great on sundays, and there are things i simply cannot juice without. speaking of.. juicing in itself has become an activity in which i get to express a little more creativity. i seem to be building a skill in blending juices, learning little tricks to keep it fresh and flavours that work well together. i never in a million years would have seen myself willingly comsuming raw cabbage or an entire grapefruit, let alone having them together in a glass. with a few other fruits in there you can't even taste the greenery. i'm a juicer ninja... and i have some more painting to do. toodles!

so fresh..

ahh yes, good ol' blog neglect. it appears as though i forgot to hit this one for a couple weeks.. didn't miss too much, mostly hibernating.. and planning for the fresh new year ahead. a week ago the weather was absolutely wretched, being minus forty degrees outside with powerful arctic wind for a good few days, there were an awful lot of Day After Tomorrow memes floating around. it finally started to thaw the past couple days, it's nice to be able to breathe the air outside again.

at least i've been keeping busy in the kitchen, trying new things like juicing greens and making different dishes from scratch that i'd never tried making before, and made a good few mean batches of chili. it's about time i'd better commit to improving my health before i fall apart any further, so i'm starting with my diet by doing my best to eliminate processed foods, which is mostly grain products filled with that delicious evil gluten. and i'm hooked on my juicer. there is absolutely nothing more satisfying to quench me than a nice fresh pressed glass of everything juice. mmmmmm everything....

...so i'm pretty excited for the garden this year. it was 6 degrees yesterday which is the warmest it's been for weeks, so i took a good long walkabout around the garden to start daydreaming about the new layout this spring. last year we hadn't moved here till pretty late in the planting season so we just kind of threw it all together, this year we have plenty of time to come up with a better design. apparently all i can think about right now is food. sprouting it, growing it, preparing it and eating it. ohsnap! i'm human! haha. now imma have a bit of that there chili over rice and a nice glass of lemon lime apple carrot ginger beet juice! ta...

Garden City Under Ice

at 2:30 in the morning i somehow was startled awake by the sound of the power going out... i lit a candle to wander and investigate. a few minutes later i got a text from Matt asking if the power was out at home. it must be the weather.. i opened the door to the sound of icy rain. parts of the city were out. i checked online while my cellphone still had juice, many towns around lake Ontario had downed power lines.

it looked amazing. i couldn't wait for the rain to slow down so i could take some pictures...

i ventured out with an umbrella and the telephoto lens. i could hear tree branches crackling under the weight of the ice as the winds started to pick up again. i made it a quick jorney through the garden and down the street. the cedars bowed down maples around the corner. everything glistening under a thick layer of ice. the frozen turned back into rain and i quickened my pace to return to the homestead, the umbrella was about to give up. brr...

it's days like today i'm especially glad i have someplace warm to hide.

when the lights go out..

i guess it's been on my mind a lot lately. at least for the last decade or so.. the 'blackout' was already ten years ago. summer of 2003 most of the northeast and some of the midwest experienced a widespread power outage. some places were without power into the evening, other places such as the old forgotten neighbourhood i lived in went three days in darkness before the power was restored.

my recurring dreams tell tales of a powerless society, i often catch short glimpses into a world where we no longer have access to this much sought after and often taken for granted utility. i always wonder where i'm going to be when it happens, who i'll be with, what i'd have access to in that moment.. every time the power goes out for no weather related reasons i wonder is this it? ...now what.

lets go back to 2003 for a minute. i remember it like it was yesterday, i was 18.. it was my first year on the job in the company i'm [back] at now. i worked in the photolab of a fair sized department store. just less than a month into my employment there, that's when it happened. i wasn't at work yet, but i was due to go in that evening. i was hiding from the summer heat watching a movie in the halfway house when suddenly everything was very quiet.

after a few minutes of waiting for the fan to resume it's motions we ventured outside to look around. someone probably hit a pole. maybe a transformer blew up, lots of air conditioners running this week.. within half an hour someone on our street had heard that the whole city was out. when i arrived at work an hour later we knew most of the province and surrounding states were without power. it took hours for a reefer truck to arrive at the store from a short distance down the highway. there were no traffic lights, the roads were chaotic. we packed up what had held temperature and were sent home before the sunset.

back in the neighbourhood the fridges and small freezers were first to go. i lived in 'old Merritton', a place that seemed to be decades behind with it's old houses and fire lanes, and everyone still had a firepit in their back yard. groups gathered in to neighbours' yards to cook meat and feast on the fresh food before it spoiled. it was the middle of august so nothing lasted long. down over the bridge the local Dairy Queen was giving away all it's frozen treats, massive ice cream cakes brought out onto the picnic tables to be devoured by all the kids in the neighbourhood. kids did cartwheels down the middle of the empty four lane street. i joined them.

that evening we sat in the kitchen around a small huddle of candles and talked about what we do if the power never came back on. that night and into the second day we had heard news [word of mouth of course] about some lootings downtown and home robberies. there was still some propane left in the barbecue, we used it to boil water for tea and coffee. we started a neighbourhood watch with the people on our street to keep an eye on the older folks and children. the air was hot and thick as summer was in full swing. we broke the seal on the deep freeze to find something to eat.

most of the city had come back on that evening, our end of town was on an older grid and we had to wait one more night in the dark. at least we knew it was almost over. a part of me was a little sad i think, while at the same time i was relieved to have another chance to be prepared. i think this whole experience left such an impact on me that it has been in the back of my mind ever since.

earlier this week we had one of those moments.. i was at work this time, and the lights went out. a brief moment passed before the emergency lighting kicked on, and we would have a short time to find everyone and get them safely to the front of the store. there was also that brief timespan of not knowing, a solid chill ran right through me. was it just us? the whole mall? the whole city? why hadn't it come back on yet, why did it turn off in the first place, it's a regular sunny day.


and there it was, the question.. is this it? of course not. but i didn't know that at first, and as i did rounds of the store checking the exits i'd do a mental inventory of all of the supplies that we had access to just in case. food, gear, firestarter and fuel, blankets, clothing and shelters, and luggage and backpacks to carry things in. and bikes.. i thought, if this is it, i should bike home and collect my family as well. when i came back from the first rounds i found out it was just the mall. a transformer had blown, we were in the dark for hours. we were organized and well prepared to transfer everything into a freezer truck. shortly after i left for the day, the truck had arrived, and of course the power had come back on. everything gone back to normal shortly thereafter, and it was just another day.

another day that left me thinking, i wonder what would happen if the lights went out for good..

for the love of winter

i have to admit it, i do love winter. even though my body aches, and the chill is sometimes hard to escape, i think i'd really miss winter if i didn't have it. all of the seasons have their own magic, and though winter is likely the most complained about season we experience in these parts, i think it's battling autumn for my top spot on the fave list.

just recently i realized that [my friends and] i tend to spend more time on outings and adventures in the colder months than we do all of spring summer and fall. there's too much keeping us busy in the warm, like traveling, working outside in the yard or the garden, and avoiding the midday heat. in winter we tend to make better effort to avoid cabin fever and going stir crazy, so we see more of each other, and find more creative things to do.

the most exciting time of year for me has always been the arrival of sweater weather. i love putting on a favourite cozy hoody and going for a walk. i love the smell of all the wood burning stoves in the neighbourhood, sending their delicious scent up into the cool crisp november air. any excuse for a nice hot drink of tea or warm spiced apple cider.. and being inspired to bake something delicious, a reason to make use of the oven as an extra heat source.

it brings us together, under a warm fuzzy blanket.. gathers friends around a fire, freezes the pond so we can skate. the first real snow fall brings a guaranteed smile. the first storm of the season plays on our vulnerability in the great white north.. we hold our loved ones just a little tighter, help strangers get unstuck from snowdrifts, reach out to our community when the lights go out.

as it turns out, despite the cold, i've spent more time on the trails in winter months than in the heat. i've always loved the extra element winter weather brings to the challenge of surviving a night outside. i love how crisp and clear everything appears through the camera lens when it's twenty below zero and the air is still. i love to enjoy every crystallized drop of water that lands on my sleeve, never seeing the same shape twice.
now if only it would snow...

winter, i had you all wrong.. i'm ready, bring it on.

sol-rise

the first leg of my journey home involves walking over a great big bridge. you can see the whole sky from up there.. the sunrise is amazing. the absolute best thing about working the night shift is enjoying the mornings. i'm most def a morning person, if any time of day was mine that'd be it. it's different when the morning comes at the end of the day, the sunrise greets me on my slow mosey home and sparkles on the dew drops collected on the grass from the cool autumn night.

after coming down off the bridge i walk through an older neighbourhood where there are many old houses that still use wood burning stoves for heating.. i love that smell. i take deep breaths and slow steps. as i turn the corner at the end of the road the sun warms my back, i see the steam rising off the roof tops and the squirrells scramble up and down the trees.

i'm almost there.. i slow down even further as i approach the house. the sun streaks through the trees and kisses the garden hello. i sit for a moment on the bench out in the yard and just breathe. i have arrived, i am home.

just a little bike ride..

i'm not used to having random weekdays off, but with budget cuts at work as a reaction to the 'suffering economy', i have myself some newfound 'free time'. having no hours also means having no money, so finding cheap/free fulfilling things to do is the name of the game.

..and one of my most favourite free games to play, of course, is... Geocaching! my man is on the night shift so naturally he sleeps all day, which lends me opportunity to get some use out of his sweet ride. my bike was stolen out of a friend's backyard earlier this year, which may have proven to be a blessing in disguise. my bike was a cruiser from the eighties, white wall tires and all. not so bad for flat city streets, but not the kind of bike you would take on the path.

i rode around the city for a while, trying to decide where to go, scoping out some gardens, and i decided i should see how long it takes to get up to the canal from this end of town. turns out not as long as i thought, though it took me a while as i had to hunt for a few caches. i wasn't really expecting to be gone long so i didn't do much to prepare, once i decided i'd want to keep going i stopped at the grocery to pick up a snack.

it's been a while since i've ridden a bike just for the sake of riding, and i felt amazing. so free flying along the streets, a real switch-up from always walking everywhere. i got to see so much more of the city and the trail than i would have if i was on foot, and it made me wonder why i don't ride more often. also made me wish i had a motorbike.. maybe sometime.

before i knew it, i was up by bridge eleven, further than i had ever traveled along the Welland Canal trail before. i looked at the time, 11:11am, no way! i had left my house at nine expecting to take an hour long bike ride. i never realized how rugged and green it gets along the path once you get past the city, besides a few other cyclists and the canal itself, you'd never know there were other humans around. so quiet and peaceful, frogs and crickets making music with the breeze.

i felt great once i got out there, so i kept going. my success rate for finding caches was at about fifty percent, perhaps because the ones i decided i'd go for were in the most mosquito infested [yet beautiful!] locations along the trail. didn't matter much to me, the adventure [and the workout] is what i'm after. and the space and time to clear my mind and meditate on the things that matter in life, the fresh air and sunshine, and all the things [mostly people] i have gratitude for in my life. i ended up covering about fifty kilometers, and i can certainly feel it, especially from the way up the 'mountain'. i can't wait for the next random weekday off..

so much to do..

hiding from the heat can sometimes be inconvenient, especially when it comes to enjoying the summer. well planned mini vacations are absolutely key for my survival of the summer. i work days luckily, so during the week it's still 'cool' in the morning when i leave for work, and in the heat of the day i get to retreat to my underground nest. every other weekend i catch up on chores, but the odd weekends i like to escape.

my mini vacations mostly consist of traveling to the KW region to visit my best friend at Jenny's Cove. it's like a little cottage and garden nook in the sky, uber relaxing and a nice foliage filtered view of the sunset. we love to go to the nearby quarry to float around in the lake, we smartened up this time and didn't even leave for the place until after four to make sure we had already missed the most intense hours of sun.we do our best to pack as many mini adventures into our weekend as we can, mixed with relaxation and a few productive tasks.

back at home there's always lots to do even if i can't get out in the heat. there's so much going on to write about, and another addiction to contribute to; reading. chillin' in the basement encourages me to hang out in our common room/library and pull out a good [educational] book. i've been on a self-education kick for a while now, i currently have books on the go about permaculture, and nutrition science.

early in the morning on my weekends and in the evenings during the week, i get to sneak out to the garden to enjoy it's freshness, and check on the up and coming bounty. i can't help but feel calm and at home when i'm out in the yard, and it's a big reason why i love this place so much. as cozy as our hobbit hole is, i don't think it would have the same appeal without the benefit of a huge yard.

besides reading and writing, i've taken some time to go through our storage room and sort through a few boxes and totes. i rediscovered a small pile of art supplies, paint and canvasses and unfinished projects. if this heat wave lasts any longer i may have to break into the crafting stash that i usually save for the winter and create something!

i'm back!

so i fell off the face of the planet for a couple weeks, no big deal... it was a good little vacation. i've been back for a week actually but i've been so exhausted that sitting at a computer typing just doesn't feel like a good idea.

the flight wasn't bad, and the trip was amazing, i met people from 27 different countries, it feels like i travelled the world in six days. i didn't sleep.. i got a total of eleven and a half hours the entire time i was gone . too much to do, to see and way to many people to meet. it was incredible, i'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

we've been getting a lot of rain, so the excitement at home has been dealing with water in the basement. and we live in the basement so... it's been a chore.

otherwise since we have been getting so much rain, the weather has been perfect for long walks on the town. one of our favourite places downtown called 'the Thoth' showcases a large selection of urban art, and it's a nice secluded place to enjoy some fresh herbs and a snack by the water. the garden is more or less taking care of itself right now with all the rain we are getting, so we can spend time out and about, and cleaning or dampened hobbit hole.

i got my partner wearing the fivefingers, he loves them! of course he's wearing mine... how lucky was i to find a dude with the same shoe size?! haha.. ah well. though the thoth is one of my favourite places, it isn't somewhere you would want to wander barefoot. some more questionable people hang out there at night, and broken glass isn't the only thing there is an abundance of that you don't wanna get stuck in your foot.

it looks a little gray out there again today, i should really get ready for work.. just wanted to stop in to my blogspot to let the world know i'm still alive! i tend to shy away from the interwebs when the weather is nice, and 18 degrees and overcast is my favourite :). toodles for now! lots to write when i get home..

leaving [on a jetplane]

this will be my first time flying in years... about 16 years to be exact. the last time i flew i filled eleven airsick bags, and i vaguely remember landing.. i'm really hoping that i've gotten over motion sickness by now. this time it's two separate planes, the first ride is about an hour long, and the second part is a couple hours. not bad... still would have rather taken a bus.

i'm going to the annual [international shareholders' conference in arkansas. i have been with the company off and on for a decade [when i wasn't busy traveling or learning] and it's an honour and privilege to get to attend this week long party. and damn right, i deserve a paid for vacation! there's concerts and a baseball game, a vendor fair, store and museum tours, and a bunch of other crazy walmart activities. we found out one of the big names playing at the concert venue, Elton John! wow..

one thing we were advised to do is bring as many canada souvenirs as we could fit in our packs. it is an international meeting, 27 different countries represented.. all bringing homeland goodies to trade. i'm looking forward to networking with with people from all over the world! what an epic opportunity.

my only concern... leaving behind my freshly planted garden. matt will be home most of the week, i hope he remembers to water everything.. *cough someone remind him thanks cough*. there doesn't seem to be any rain in the forecast. i'm glad it rained all day yesterday, just as i finished planting the beds. everything got a good soaking and a chance to root.

well i got some last minute packing to do, and a few errands to run before i leave. i'm out first thing in the morning, see you in a week, canada!

cellar dweller

i used to hate on the idea of living in a basement.. just seems like a bad idea is all. mostly paranoid about water really, but so far even our first leaky mishap was well worth the benefits that come with living underground. the first big rain we had leaked into our kitchen... totally my fault, i was gardening and forgot to replace the piping that carries the water away from the foundation.. woke up with a slick of water on the floor. after learning that lesson quickly, it's back to chillin'.

number one benefit of living sub-terra.. the temperature! when it's too cold, that's an easy fix. space heaters and blankets work wonders. but when it's creeping up over a hundred degrees outside, it's easy to stay cool as a cucumber down here no AC required. i say as i sip on my cucumber apple lemonade, fresh from the juicer... super healthy part of my thrive challenge!

omnom..! delicious and refreshing, perfect for any hot day. and a hot one it is... it's a good thing i got home when i did. another hour without shade and water and my freshly planted seedlings would have had the biscuit. i had to carefully pour as much water as i could down to the roots without hitting the leaves [for fear of burning them] to quickly revive them.. they sprung right back. phew! i'd be pretty upset if i lost a part of that big beautiful garden especially so soon!

there are key elements to keeping our little hole in the ground cool and comfortable. first being a dehumidifier. this device is a key component to living comfortably in a basement no matter the season, most especially in older homes, the basements of which were originally not intended to be living space. the second key element is a large circulator fan. we have the one that sits on the floor, but can be tilted up. this helps to keep the air moving, and push the cooler air from the tiled cement of our kitchen into the slightly better insulated main room. to make this system work though, the windows must be kept shut. we have been using this system since we got here, and even on the hottest days it's noticeably cool.

well, that being said, the afternoon sun is passing and it should be safe to go back outside and mill about in the garden. lots of digging and planting still to do before my epic journey south.

garden vacation

yeaaay! so happy i get to have a garden this year. although, we've had to start from scratch.. it's been fun though, and we had the last few years at the white house to learn from. i'm glad we have a chance to try new things and different methods. i dropped a new post over at Southern Ontario Urban Permaculture about our experimental beds.. we're trying some cardboard garden beds built in layers of mulch, topsoil and other good stuff. it was perfect cool weather with the warm sun to be out back digging away. i have the week off so i can hit the farmer's market tuesday, thursday and saturday to pick up more fruit and veggie plants from some of my favourite vendors.

matt had an interview for a job yesterday, and it sounds like it's a go.we had a wee sort of housewarming gathering today, it was nice. some vids, garden tours and a bonfire, catching up and sharing stories with a few good old friends. couldn't have had a better day.

tomorrow, i'll head out to the country to my pop's place to borrow a mower [ha!] and collect a rain barrel that we will use here at the house. it's a busy week lined up, then i fly out to the southern states at the end of it.. 2o13, you so crazy..

winter's last kiss...

this happens every year it seems, we have a few weeks of almost summer weather and then we experience a mid-May cold snap.. this one came as such a shock as the temperatures went from mid twenties right back down to freezing in about a day. i woke up frozen as i realized the furnace never kicked on..

it's the perfect weather to bundle up in a couple of nice thick sweaters. can still get away with no jacket if i'm smart about it, truth be told... i love sweater weather. so i'm kinda glad winter came back around with it's final kiss, i was starting to feel the heat.

the sky is crisp on the walk to work.. painted with clouds of bright white and deep chilling grey. the view is stunning as i make my way over the bridge, i stop to take it in. the smell of wood burning stoves fills my nose... nostalgia. i am thankful for the peaceful walk.. to reflect, and project future dreams into reality.

welcome back winter if only for a minute.. you prepare my heart for a spring of hard work and gardening.

cold sunday.

brrr. mid May cold snap... i'm pretty sure i went to the laundromat just as much to warm up as i did to do the laundry. it was also a good day to drag a couple carts full of soil and manure from the market across the street. the wind and hail discouraged me from digging though, so i retreated to our subterrarium homestead. by the way, i thought i made that word up, turns out it's the name of a place in germany which happens to be some sort of underground [literally?!] art studio/club. neato! ...yoink...

anyhoo.. i promised myself i'd write more, and make some use of this blogger thing, so here goes.. imma use it to keep track of all these crazy ideas i get about what i'm going to do with my home or my yard, or my food or my life or whatever.. so i don't forget to use them! facebook is great and all, but not as much geared towards free form writing. awesome for pictures, but i like to share a few here with the story too.

so we just moved to our new basement apartment, and we have access to a pretty big back yard. to make times a little more interesting, Matt lost his job, so he's been relying on random temp labour jobs and handing out resumes, and the penny jar is pretty low. we can afford to get by if we are very frugal, so we're getting some practice at being super resourceful. being broke also makes us more conscious of our possessions and re-purposing things instead of buying new.

a lot of what we have for kitchen wares was given to us from our previous roommates who wanted to thin their collection, and from Matt's mom.. so we have a crazy odd-ball collection of dishes, but it's all we need. two other friends gave me two awesome sets of storage jars and canisters, and we found a bunch of stuff in storage that hadn't seen the light of day in years that we finally got to unpack. between the two of us we could probably start a library, our collections rival one another. amongst some of our other collectibles, cards and figurines that had been stashed away from our kidhoods.

i didn't quite get to paint right away as i had hoped, we don't have the money right away to get it done. it's kinda cool though because we have more time to think about how we want to finish our space to make it 'us'. plus if imma be a domesticated animal, i gotta do it up right. i'll start in the bathroom.. it's a small space and we can paint and decorate for next to nothing. since we're in a basement apartment with strange lines, textures and spaces, i was thinking we could keep it funky, maybe a little on the colourful side to brighten it up and make it fresh. it's pretty dingy and neglected so whatever we change will be for the better. so anyway the bathroom.. i was thinking to make it look kinda like a bamboo outhouse all rugged and stuff, like the one in Jurassic park! haha..

the center wall in our apartment is exposed painted concrete block. one side is our living room wall, the other side is the hallway to the bathroom. i'm trying to come up with some ideas of how i can use the texture creatively. so far i was thinking since i'm starting with the bathroom, i could continue out into that hallway, and paint the blocks to look like big old mossy bricks. i know this sounds ridiculous, but i'm pretty ridiculous. him too. so it works!

well that's all i got for now. i already threw down a couple more posts on my other blogs, one about the garden, and one aboout the challenge.. most particularily about the experience i had finally cutting off my dreadlocks. what a change.. i feel.. different. change is good.

project newhouse.. time to thrive!

so we moved quite suddenly. we weren't expecting to get in until the end of May but thankfully, here we are. i will now have a week off at the end of the month to start some home renovations and get the back yard ready to garden. our apartment is the basement of a house. it needs a little fixing but it's a great space, big windows all along the west side. the fact that it was left in need of a facelift gives us an opportunity to get creative.

the back yard is a story of it's own, it's quite big for inner city. there's a large black walnut tree and a maple, and yet still a fair bit of space that gets sun for most of the day. the previous tenants built us a housewarming gift, a cool bench seat for beside the firepit. and a garden box along the back fence, which we haven't decided what to plant in.

the past week has been a blur, moving, cleaning, unpacking and rediscovering things that have long been stored away.. and enjoying our very own space. Matt and i have been couch hopping and roomsharing for a little under a year, and it's awesome to finally have a whole apartment to ourselves. so peaceful! as much as we loved the people that housed us, we are enjoying what we have now. something to make our own.

now that i'm all domesticated, may as well play the part. i think i'm gonna start in the bathroom.. go with a little rustic and nature theme. the kitchen i am undecided on how to finish, and the livingroom is looking like it will be kind of oriental style by default.. we like to be close to the ground, and as we only had a room in the last place we are lacking in livingroom furniture. so for now, it's floor pillows and a couple small ground level tables. the bedroom will likely be red and black, and then the storage/play room... well, that's going to be fun! and this is what happens when streetkids become unhomeless. ha..

i should probably get some sleep, five a.m. comes early. we've been so busy getting our place together [and pausing to whoop each other at nintendo64 games] that we forgot about the internet, and writing and stuff. at least i'm managing to keep on top of my thrive challenge, even if i haven't found a moment to write about it in a while. anyways.... bed!